2000 Chevy Silverado - Above The Dirt

Seven Years In The Making

Brandon Naivar grew up around cars. His father raced stock cars on dirt and asphalt circle tracks while Brandon was growing up, but Brandon went a different route. Brandon's parents, James and Betty, took him and his brother to several monster-truck events, so when it came to driving, his first love was mud. Brandon spent the first few years after he got his license driving his Jeep through any mud hole he could find.

However, things changed when he bought this '00 Silverado, then a brand-new truck, back when he was 18. Soon, the truck was lifted and had its share of off-road excursions, gracing the Readers' Rides section of Four Wheeler magazine along the way. This time, though, Brandon decided to keep this truck clean, retire it from off-road duty, and build it up to turn some heads.

Jason, his father, James, and his brother, Dustin, did the majority of the work on the truck. The first step was to get enough tire under the truck to give it more of a monster-truck feel, while keeping it road-worthy. To get huge 40x15.5-inch Nitto Tire Mud Grapplers to fit under the comparatively small wheelwells of the Silverado, a 5-inch body lift was installed. With the body apart from the chassis, the guys took the opportunity to fully box the frame and add additional crossmembers using 2x4-inch -inch-wall tubing. Knowing that 5 inches of lift won't clear 40 inches of tire, a 12-inch 3rd Coast Suspension lift came in.

Before it was bolted on, each piece of the lift was painted or powdercoated to match the truck. Chromed shock tubes and dual 7100-series Bilstein shocks were added up front, and more 7100-series Bilsteins were bolted on in the back, this time attached to a custom-gusseted rear axle. The rear axle rides on a custom four-link made with solid 1--inch hex bar and is suspended by 16-inch Firestone airbags. Now, there was finally room for the 40-inch Nitto rubber and 22-inch Driv Blitz wheels, but first, the brakes were upgraded to 14-inch Baer rotors with stainless steel brake lines.

Moving to the body, Brandon went into the GM truck parts bin and added an HD hood to the -ton truck, along with the grille and air dam from a Tahoe, door handles from an Escalade, and taillights from an '03 Silverado. Then, it was time to remove the stake pockets, tailgate handle, and weld in a roll pan. To get the truck ready for the spray booth, Sid at Asid Graphics in Taylor, Texas, did the final prep work before spraying House of Kolor Candy Blue and Candy Silver over an Onyx Black base. The tribal graphic was designed by Brandon and Dustin, and Sid even extended the theme onto the driveshaft.

Sid didn't hang up his airbrush once the exterior was done, the real details are found under the hood and in the interior of the Silverado. The covers for both the coolant recovery tank and the electrical center were airbrushed with lightning and a skull, while the engine cover and core support got more tribal graphics to match the exterior. Inside the truck, the airbrushing continued on the smoothed kick panels, C-pillars, and seat trim. The rest of the interior plastics were smoothed and painted, as well; this time in onyx black. Next, Chuy's Custom Upholstery in Austin, Texas, wrapped the seats, door panels, and headliner in black leather and suede, and also made matching floor mats, complete with blue and silver french stitching.

Brandon's parents got into the act by wrapping the passenger-side dash grab handle in suede, twice. Brandon actually went through two different colors in suede, and everything had to match. Now there is definitely no confusing this interior with a monster truck, and we haven't even mentioned the audio. Thirteen inches were taken out of the middle of the rear bench to accommodate the fiberglass subbox that Brandon built with help from Nathan Gonzales.

Three Kicker Solo-Baric subs are powered by a Kicker 600.1 amp, while the MB Quart mids and tweeters in all four doors and A-pillar are powered by an Xtant 600.4 amp. A Clarion DVD head unit in the dash is the command center for all of the audio and can send video to two monitors mounted in the C-pillar or serve as a display for the rear view camera. The final interior pieces are an Escalade gauge cluster that complement the blue and silver found elsewhere in the truck, and the crown jewel: the steering wheel. Dima custom made the steering wheel to be a perfect match for the Blitz wheels Brandon picked out.

Brandon and his family put a lot of work into getting this truck finished, so he'd like to thank his wife, Tammy; his brother, Dustin; and his parents, James and Betty. Sid Buchanek from Asid Graphics, and Charlie from Team Ace It, Nitto Tire, and Street Glow also get a lot of credit. Brandon plans on building more trucks in the future, and if this first truck is any indication, you'll be seeing more of his work in Truckin'.